Eternal Friends
by Simoun Sibylla
Summary: Alicia x Akira. A dinner at an old restaurant causes Alicia and Akira to reevaluate their past relationship. Based on the manga.


**Disclaimer:** Alicia, Akira, and the other inhabitants of the _Aria_ universe belong to the author Amano Kozue. But her characters are too wonderful for me to resist writing about them. This story is based on the Japanese manga, and takes place before _Aqua_ and _Aria_, i.e. some time before Akari joins Aria Company.

**Warning: **This story contains a romantic relationship between two women. Please avoid if that is not your cup of tea. :)

**Eternal Friends**

Leaning against the railing of the deck of Aria Company, Alicia watched the morning sunlight sparkle across the waves and sipped a cup of warm black tea. The fresh sea breeze picked up a bit, whipping stray hairs around Alicia's face. It would be autumn soon, she realized, amazed at how quickly time passed.

"Punyu?"

Alicia looked down at the chubby white cat at her feet. "Ah, President Aria, we should get to work," she said. It was Tuesday, but she had kept the morning free of gondola tours in order to catch up on some necessary paperwork—accounts had to be kept, letters had to be sent, a safety inspection had to be scheduled...

Managing the business by herself was far more challenging than she had expected. But if Grandmother believed Alicia could handle the operation of Aria Company on her own, then clearly she could.

Aria stretched a bit, bumping against Alicia's leg. "Nyuuuu," he yawned.

Alicia laughed softly, then cast her eyes back towards the horizon, where the endless green-blue of the sea met the paler blue of the Aquan sky. A flock of seagulls cavorted in the distance, diving every now and again into the water in their hunt for food. One gull caught a glinting silver fish in its beak and soared up victoriously. The other birds cawed and chased after it jealously, seeking to get a piece of this juicy catch.

Alicia turned away and went inside to the office behind the reception desk. Aria trotted after her. Alicia pulled up a chair to the small desk in the corner, set down her teacup, and took a seat. Opening a drawer, she took out her thin wireframe reading glasses and perched them on her nose. She then began flipping through a pile of papers stacked on the desk while Aria settled in on the neighboring bookshelf to supervise her.

She had spent about an hour working productively when she was startled by the sudden ringing of the telephone on the wall. She rose to her feet and hurried over to answer it. "Hello, Aria Company, Alicia speaking."

"Morning, Alicia."

She recognized the voice immediately. "Ah, Akira, hello!" She pushed the button to turn on the video display, and a second later Akira's sharp face came into focus. She had a frown on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Listen, you remember that little pasta shop, Il Fiore? The one with the huge portions? The one we used to go to all the time?"

"Yes?" She and her friends had gone there about once a month when they were still trainees—they couldn't afford to go out to eat very often, but that little restaurant was delicious and always seemed like a good deal. She hadn't gone back since she'd become a prima, thouth. She wondered why Akira of all people wanted to go back there.

"Well, I just found out that the little old lady who runs it is closing shop! And tonight is the last night!" Akira wailed.

"Ara-ara, now that is too bad! I guess it must be hard to run a business at that age."

"Yeah, yeah, so I was thinking," Akira continued, "why don't you, me, and Athena go out for dinner one last time there? Just like we used to—" She abruptly cut off her own sentence.

Alicia pretended not to notice. "That sounds wonderful," she agreed, keeping her tone light and reassuring. There was no need to dwell on what had happened in the past—especially if Akira was willing to return there. Besides, it was a shame that such a fine restaurant was closing.

"Yeah? Okay! Great!" A smile of something like relief came across Akira's face. "I'll call Athena and see if she's free. Let's meet there at six o'clock tonight, unless you hear otherwise from me!"

"Alright. Thank you."

Akira hung up with a click and vanished from the display.

Alicia slowly put the receiver back in its cradle, a faint nervousness beginning to gnaw at her stomach. But she had plenty of work to do now, if she wanted to have time to go out later.

As planned, Alicia went to Il Fiore that evening. She found Akira already waiting in front of the restaurant, dressed in a long, tight-fitting red dress with a black lace shawl covering her shoulders. Her arms were folded across her chest to shield her from the brisk evening wind that buffeted her long black hair and made the ruffled hem of her dress dance about her ankles.

Alicia smiled, though her chest felt tight. She called out a greeting.

"Athena won't be coming," Akira growled as Alicia reached her. Her eyes glinted and a faint pout hung about her lips. "She has some sort of meeting she can't escape."

"That's a shame." Alicia paused. "So, it's just the two of us, then?" It was rare that she met Akira alone these days.

Akira nodded. "It is the last night this place will be open. We can't not go, right?"

"Right."

They entered the restaurant. The place was packed with loyal patrons enjoying their last meal at this establishment. The whole dining area was festively decorated, with candles and a slender vase of three roses placed on every table. A waiter showed them to their table and discreetly removed the unnecessary third chair.

They ordered dinner: appetizers of vegetable soup with homemade rye bread, _pasta fagioli _for Alicia (the same dish she ate every time they came here), and fettucine with artichoke sauce for Akira. Not long after their waiter left, a waitress arrived at their table to serve them a complimentary bottle of red wine. Alicia was delighted. "Thank you for your faithful patronage" was written in ink on a gold-embossed card attached to the neck of the bottle.

Akira fingered the note. "Somehow this is really depressing," she muttered, resting her chin on one hand.

Alicia picked up her glass. The wine gleamed a brilliant ruby in the candlelight. "A toast," she said, "to the long years of good company!"

Akira looked at Alicia for a moment, then followed suit. "May there be many more of them," she added, clinking her glass against Alicia's.

They passed the time chatting about the usual topics: droll anecdotes about tourists, the outlook for business this fall, and a few tidbits of gossip about mutual acquaintances. Their meal came and, as they devoured the delicious pasta, talk turned to old times. How they had first stumbled upon this restaurant, how Athena had fallen into the cake during her 18th birthday party here, how the mayor himself had once bought them all a round of drinks, how this and that had happened—all the funny little incidents of the past were recounted in amusing detail.

Gazing upon Akira's charming face in the candlelight as they giggled and chattered like schoolgirls, Alicia felt like she had been transported back in time. But she knew it was just an illusion, the magic of wine and the evening. There was a tension in the air, and she knew that if she wasn't careful, the spell would be broken and everything would fall apart—again.

"Ah, that was delicious!" declared Akira as they stepped out into the cool night after dinner. Alicia fell into step beside her, feeling warm and aglow from the wine and the excellent meal. She laughed softly to herself.

"Thank you for inviting me, Akira." There was no talk of Athena now. She twined an arm around one of Akira's and leaned against her friend's shoulder. A hint of a light, cinnamon-tinged perfume reached her nose, evoking memories of other times she had snuggled close to Akira in the evening, just the two of them together. There it was again, that delicate sweet scent of Akira's warm skin, so close to her now...

Alicia stumbled over a bumpy cobblestone, abruptly yanking on Akira's arm.

"You're more drunk than me, for once," Akira observed.

Alicia laughed. "Just a little," she admitted. "You hardly drank anything, though, so I had to finish the second bottle all by myself."

Akira grunted. A piece of newspaper scuttled across their path, blown by the wind. The heels of their shoes echoed against the cobblestones as they walked back to the main street. This little side street was dark and empty, but streetlights glowed up ahead. Alicia looked up and saw the night sky was barren of stars, covered instead with thick clouds.

"Shall I walk you home?" asked Akira.

"That's kind of you, but you don't have to."

"I don't mind."

"Well..."

"To Aria Company, then."

"To Aria Company."

As they came within view of Alicia's company, Akira suddenly came to a stop at the top of the dock leading down to the little house perched out on stilts in the water. "Alicia."

Alicia stopped as well and turned to face Akira. "Yes?"

"You—you didn't say anything."

Alicia felt the faint tingle of nervousness that had been bothering her all evening turn into a heavy, leaden feeling of dread.

"I swore you were going to say something!"

Alicia swallowed and took a deep breath. "Akira..."

"I kept waiting for it! 'Funny that you and I should be alone here again, Akira' or 'Don't you remember how we used to go here all the time, Akira?' or even 'I haven't forgotten how you broke my heart at that tiny little table in the corner over there, Akira!' But you didn't say anything!" She glared at Alicia. Her long black hair whipped about in the wind.

Alicia met Akira's eyes. "I knew you knew," she said softly. "There was no need to bring it up again."

"Oh, so now it's my fault for saying something and ruining the nice little game of make-believe we had going?" Akira accused.

Alicia's eyes widened. There it was, that old familiar pain stabbing through her heart again. Akira was right—they had been pretending nothing had changed. The old restaurant, the smooth wine, and the nostalgic comfort of just the two of them together had been too tempting to resist. They had both succumbed to the enchantment.

Alicia stared at Akira, unable to find any words to say.

After a moment, Akira turned away to look out at the black ocean. The waves were high with the incoming tide and the unceasing wind. A few cold droplets of sea spray spattered across Alicia's cheek.

"You haven't forgiven me, have you," said Akira after a long silence, as though addressing the ocean.

Alicia didn't respond to the accusation immediately. She gazed at Akira, her red dress and black hair fluttering in the night, and felt the pressure build up in her chest until it became unbearable and the words spilled out on their own. "Yes, you did break my heart. I adored you, I loved you, I followed you into your world of gondolas. And there I finally found my own purpose, my calling. But—"

"But," Akira cut in, "I was so jealous that someone like you, who started training on a whim, became a prima before me. I was jealous that someone like you stole all the spotlight and made history as the youngest Undine ever. I saw you moving on, stealing my dreams, and leaving me behind."

"I never—" Alicia began, then faltered. She couldn't deny that she had discovered her own ambition thanks to Akira's influence. But competition and envy were never what she had wanted. "I—I thought we could share it together."

The memories they had carefully tiptoed around all evening suddenly came flooding back. There was that disagreement that had erupted between them on a night when they were supposed to be privately celebrating Alicia's promotion to prima with a romantic dinner for just the two of them. And there was Akira's hidden resentment, now overflowing, catching both of them by surprise. And above all, there was the sound of the doors to their hearts slamming shut, locking each other out. Thus the first passionate love of their youth had come to an unexpected and painful end just as their triumphal careers were about to begin.

At least the promotion had meant that Alicia was much busier, with little time for socializing except for rare occasions when she met up with Athena and Akira together. Athena knew about their relationship, but out of politeness they had always been discreet around her, so when the three of them were together they pretended nothing was wrong and behaved like they always had—like friends.

Somewhere along the way, the pretense had become reality and the pain had faded. Alicia had inherited Aria Company from Grandmother after her retirement, while Athena and Akira both became the stars of their respective companies. As their fame grew, the free time they had decreased even more, and the moments they did share together became increasingly more precious. There simply was no time to dwell on the past; instead, they came to treasure each other as true friends and harbored no more bitterness. At least that was what Alicia had thought.

"Akira," she said, "I think the only person who hasn't forgiven you is yourself."

Akira turned towards her, her hands clenching at her lace shawl and pulling it tight around her shoulders. "Dammit," she gritted out and kicked at the ground with a fine black leather sandal-clad foot. "Dammit!" she shouted to the black night sky, then suddenly dropped to the ground, crouching with her arms on her knees. She buried her face in arms.

Alicia rushed over and knelt on the ground beside her, trying to peer at her face. "Akira!" But Akira refused to look up. After a moment, Alicia put an arm around her and leaned against her shoulder in silence. Akira did not try to move away.

"Alicia?" Akira said after a while, her voice muffled.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you always have to be so damn _nice_?"

"Ah, Akira," she whispered, her cheek pressed against Akira's shoulder. "That's because you're still my very, very, _very_ dear friend."

Akira finally looked up. She pushed Alicia's arm aside and rose to her feet. "Embarrassing lines are forbidden!" she declared roughly, glaring down at Alicia. There was the glint of unshed tears in her eyes.

"Ara-ara," replied Alicia, standing up as well. She dusted off her black pants.

"Ara-ara is forbidden, too!" shouted Akira.

"Ara-ara, how mean!" Alicia grinned mischievously.

"Why, you!" Akira lunged forward, trying to grab Alicia, but she nimbly dodged out of the way.

"Arararara!" she giggled as she ran down the dock with Akira hot on her heels. Alicia felt the weight that had been bearing down on her chest lift, and suddenly she felt light enough to take off into the air and soar like a seagull. Laughter rose up and out of her, and—over the patter of footsteps on the wooden dock—she could hear the beautiful sound of Akira laughing as well.

Warm light shone out through the windows of the house; it seemed President Aria was at home and still awake, but the door was locked. Alicia scrambled to unlock it before Akira caught up with her. Pushing against the door, they both stumbled into the house at the same moment.

They looked at each other, then burst out into almost childish giggling again. It was just like the old days, long ago, long before the idea of becoming gondoliers had even entered their minds. They were innocent schoolchildren frolicking around outdoors, playing hide-and-seek in the streets of the city or chasing each other around in a game of tag on the playground.

Their laughter died down, and Alicia smiled, secure in the knowledge that some things, at least, would never change. Akira would always be important to her, no matter what happened. She was sure of that, down in the depths of her heart.

"Will you stay for some tea?"

"But I have to get back—work tomorrow, you know."

"Oh, come on, just one cup of chamomile tea. It won't take long. It'll help you fall asleep when you get home."

"Well...okay."

Still smiling, Alicia shut the door behind them.


End file.
